The tip-off to authorities about two U.S.-bound cargo plane bomb parcels came from a penitent al Qaeda member formerly held at Guantanamo Bay, according to British officials cited Monday by the BBC, who said Jaber al Faifi gave himself up to Saudi authorities two weeks ago.
After leaving the U.S. military prison in Cuba, Faifi attended a rehab program in Saudi Arabia before rejoining al Qaeda’s militant front in Yemen — but then turned himself in to Saudi authorities, allegedly because he wanted to return to his homeland, the officials said.
EXPLOSIVES WHIZ HUNTED IN YEMEN
Two packages posted in the Yemeni capital Sanaa were intercepted on UPS and FedEx freight planes in Dubai and East Midlands Airport in the U.K. last Friday and found to contain explosives hidden inside printer toner cartridges.
A team from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was due to head to Yemen to help screen U.S.-bound air cargo and ensure packages can be shipped more safely. TSA administrator John Pistole told the CBS “Early Show” on Monday that the agents would provide screening, training and equipment to examine cargo shipments at Sanaa International Airport.
“We’re aware that were facing a determined enemy,” Pistole said.
Yemen’s national committee for civil aviation security decided Monday “to implement exceptional security measures on all cargo leaving Yemeni airports to ensure the safety of civil aviation,” state news agency Saba said, quoting a committee statement. It also decided to tighten general security at all Yemeni airports to counter “methods used by terror organizations,” said Saba.
Shortly after the discovery of the bombs, the U.S. and Britain placed a temporary ban on all air cargo shipments from Yemen. On Saturday, France took similar measures.
On Monday, Germany decided to step up its emergency measures and extend a ban on air freight from Yemen to also cover passenger flights that originated in the Arabian peninsula country. “German air authorities have orders to turn back all direct and indirect flights from Yemen. That means that for the time being, there will be no flights to or over German territory allowed,” a transport ministry spokesman said.
Qatar Airways said Sunday that a package containing explosives was flown from Sanaa to Doha and then on to Dubai on one of its aircraft. A source said on condition of anonymity that the plane was a passenger flight. The bomb had PETN hidden inside a computer printer with a circuit board and mobile phone SIM card attached, security officials in Dubai said.
The other parcel, which British prime minister David Cameron said appeared designed to blow up a plane, was found at East Midlands Airport, in central England, and apparently traveled through Cologne, Germany.
Authorities said the devices were the work of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and that its bomb-maker Ibrahim Hassan al Asiri, 28, was a prime suspect. Asiri is also believed to have built the bomb worn by the Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines aircraft last year.